Green building vision must be boosted

While greening the construction materials industry is becoming an increasingly prominent trend in Vietnam, businesses are calling for stronger supporting policies to help accelerate progress and contribute more effectively to the country's net-zero targets.

- By Bich Thuy

In late April at the Saint-Gobain DURAflex fibre cement board plant in Quang Tri province, a zero-carbon manufacturing facility was unveiled. Unlike traditional facilities often associated with heavy emissions, the plant has replaced its diesel-fired boiler with a biomass boiler powered by sustainably sourced agricultural residues from local farms, including wood chips, rice husks, and ground bark.

The plant now operates entirely on renewable electricity covered by international renewable energy certificates. The company is also planning to transform its 10 other factories across Vietnam into zero-carbon facilities in the coming years.

The facility is among a growing number of green buildings in Vietnam, reflecting rising interest from the market and stakeholders in sustainable construction.

According to the Vietnam Green Building Market Overview 2025 report, by the end of 2025, Vietnam had 780 certified green building projects, with a total floor area of more than 18.6 million square metres. In 2025 alone, 196 buildings received green certification, with a combined floor area of 4.4 million sq.m, representing a 20 per cent increase in number and a 15 per cent rise in floor area compared to 2024.

At last week’s conference on green building materials hosted by the Ministry of Construction (MoC) in Hanoi, policymakers, businesses, and experts agreed there is significant room for further development, while also proposing additional measures to accelerate the trend.

Nguyen Canh Hong, CEO of Eurowindow, said greening production at the company is not only achieved through upgrading production lines and machinery to reduce fuel and electricity consumption in factories. From the raw material sourcing stage, the company also prioritises safe materials that minimise environmental impacts.